


Imperfections

by mackenziemchale



Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff, Insecurity, Love, Post S3, Post Series, Romance, a lil bit of smut, insecure mac
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:08:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24202606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mackenziemchale/pseuds/mackenziemchale
Summary: The room is quiet except for the low volume of the music still playing from the living room. It takes her a little longer before she musters up the courage to speak, “when… when you started to undress me, I remembered that this is the first time you’ve seen me naked in… I don’t know how long.”
Relationships: Will McAvoy/MacKenzie McHale
Comments: 14
Kudos: 20





	Imperfections

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by lilacmermaid's fic, The Anchor and The Butterfly. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it.

Mackenzie steps into her and Will’s apartment and lets the door fall closed behind her as she carries two packed to the brim shopping bags over to the coffee table in their living room. She carefully places down both bags, since they contain glass, and then takes the third bag off of her shoulder, placing it off to the side as well. The third bag wasn’t packed to the brim like the others, it was only filled with one very special item for the night she was planning. 

The apartment was empty, it was almost eight on a Friday and Will was just about to go on the air. Usually Mac wouldn’t miss being there and being in the control room with Jim, but since she was no longer executive producer that meant she didn’t  _ have _ to be there. Instead, Mackenzie was taking it upon herself to take the night off. Being boss had its perks and this was one of them. Though she had been part of the final rundown meeting and sat by Will during all of it, once it was over she had snuck out without him knowing. Mac made sure not a soul informed him where she was and if he asked, they were to say she was busy with paperwork or talking with the 44th floor. Under no circumstances was anyone allowed to tell him where she was. The only person allowed to tell Will that she had left early was Jenna, but she was not to do so until the show was over. 

She didn’t want him finding out about the night she was planning for the two of them until the very moment he stepped through their apartment door. Charlie was with her parents for the entire weekend, which meant it was just the two of them until Sunday night.

This would be their first weekend alone since Charlotte was born. Mackenzie wanted to wait until she was at least two months old or possibly older. They were finally in a routine of balancing work and taking care of her and Mac finally felt okay with leaving their daughter in someone else’s care for a few days. It made her feel even better knowing that it was her own parents, plus they were extremely excited to finally have a few days with their granddaughter so it was a win for everyone.

In comparison to a month ago, when she and Will had gone on their first date since Charlie was born, she wanted the night to be everything that one wasn’t. Not only did they spend their whole date watching Charlie through the baby monitor app on the tablet she had brought, they also ended their night early just to be back home with her. It wasn’t necessarily a bad date but not one they had expected or wanted. At the time they weren’t ready to spend that long away from her.

Two months later, and now Mackenzie was ready for that. She was in desperate need of alone time with her favorite person in the world. They saw each other at work everyday and had lunch together often, but it just wasn’t enough. Mac loved Charlie with every fiber in her being, but she had to admit that there were times when she missed having Will all to herself. They spent too many years not being in a relationship and yearning for each other through all of it. Though they had time to be intimate together again (not just sexually) the moment they became engaged, Mackenzie still felt like they had so much lost time to make up for. That was why she planned on taking full advantage of this weekend they had together. No work, no kids, no major responsibilities, just the two of them.

The best part was that Will had no idea that she had been planning this for the past week. She had called her mom earlier in the week to make sure they could take Charlie this morning. Will knew her parents would be watching her today, but had no clue that they were actually taking her to their home for the entire weekend. Mac had been figuring out a plan for tonight all week and had taken off the rest of the night to buy what she needed and take the time to set everything up while Will was occupied.

Mackenzie grabs the remote to their television and turns it on to ACN, listening to and partially watching the show as she begins setting up for their night together.

⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀●●●⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀  ⠀⠀⠀

Two hours went by and now ACN was just about to air  _ Right Now _ with Elliott. As much as Mac liked Elliott and wanted the best for their show, she really did not want it to be the background noise while they were making love. It didn’t exactly scream romance. She promptly switches off the tv and goes over to the speakers they had set up on the bookshelf next to the window in the living room. Hooking up her phone, Mac pulls up a playlist she had specifically made for nights like these. 

It was a playlist specific to their taste, full of songs from decades ranging from the 1970s to the 1980s. Mackenzie smiles to herself as the apartment begins to fill with music, she was expecting Will to be home any minute which meant she needed to go add one final touch to the outfit she had on specifically for him. 

Just as she’s sliding the finishing touch on in their bedroom, Will unlocks the door to the apartment and is met with a sight he wasn’t expecting to arrive at.

The apartment was dark, only lit up by candles most of which were unscented except a few that were a woodsy scent. Mac didn’t want to overwhelm the apartment with that smell, so only a few were that scent because it was Will’s favorite. 

The candles were laid out in a walkway path, which led down the hall toward their bedroom where the rest of the surprise was waiting for him. It takes another second for Will’s brain to register the music playing at a moderate volume, just enough not to disturb their neighbors but enough to be heard from their room. He begins to realize what was going on, the music, the candles, now all he needed was her.

“Honey?” Will calls out.

Mackenzie emerges from their bedroom and out of the hallway only moments later, a smile coming to her face as she sees her husband standing in the doorway. She was dressed in a red lace bodysuit with her black silk robe just slightly hanging off her shoulders. 

“Hi my love, welcome home.”

His mouth almost drops to the floor when he sees what she was wearing. He hadn’t seen this lingerie before so it must’ve been brand new. Red was suddenly his new favorite color, because the way she looked in the bodysuit was goddess-like.

Will doesn’t say another word, instead he acts on instinct and runs over to her. Immediately, he picks her up off the ground causing her to squeal out, “Billy!” as her legs quickly come around his torso. 

He comes to a stop in their bedroom and doesn’t notice the rose petals she had poured all over their bed or the trail that led to it at first. Instead, he kicks the door closed behind him and immediately presses her up against the nearest wall. There isn’t a chance for either to get in a word because the second Mac is against the wall, his lips were on hers. The kiss was hard and filled with desperation from their desire for each other over the past several months. It had been three months since they had any alone time outside of work (not counting their failed date) and over three months since they had any sex. Toward the end of her pregnancy she was still working hard and never in the mood, especially with the birthdate being so close. Then after that came, Mackenzie had to heal and there was never any time with having to take care of Charlie. Now they had nearly 72 hours to spend doing whatever they wanted.

“Where’s Charlie?” Will question between their heated kisses.

“With my parents at their house…” Mac pants as their lips finally break apart.

“Good.” He turns and carries her over to the bed, placing her down on it causing some of the rose petals to fall off.

Will finally gets a good look at the bed and chuckles at the rose petals covering most of it, “candles that smell like the outdoors and laid out as a pathway to our room, the music, the lingerie, and now rose petals. Looks like someone’s been very busy.”

She looks up at him from the bed and smiles, “I wanted to surprise you, give you an unforgettable weekend.”

“So when’s the surprise?”

Mackenzie rolls her eyes, “oh shut up” she grabs her husband by his shirt and pulls him down on top of her. 

He groans against her lips, as his hands immediately start roaming her body. In the meantime, she undoes the buttons to his shirt and pushes it off quickly. She smirks when his lips fall from her own in a moan as her freshly painted nails (as of an hour ago while she was getting ready for the night) scratch their way down his chest. 

A few minutes later and Will was almost out of his clothes before he shamefully realizes he has yet to take the bodysuit off of her. He was too caught up in trailing kisses down her neck and focusing on nipping lightly on one area that always drove her mad. The room had quickly filled with her moans, the nipping and his hand sliding into the bodysuit and down to one of her breasts, spurring her own further.

Will keeps his focus on both of those while bringing his other hand to start pulling the strap of the other side of the bodysuit down her arm. He was surprised at himself for not having ripped it off of her yet because that had been his first thought when she stepped out of the dark hallway and into the candle lit living room earlier. 

The entire time he’s beginning to peel the bodysuit off of her, Mackenzie’s mind starts to wander off to something she hadn’t thought about yet. It was a horrible thought to have about herself. This would be the first time he’d be seeing her naked in quite awhile. She became very insecure during her third trimester of how her body looked, it had changed a lot and she had gained extra weight. Though the two had a habit of showering together, during the third trimester and especially toward the end, she always came up with an excuse for them not to. Mac was afraid that he’d no longer find her beautiful. It wasn’t just the extra weight gain, even if she had lost most of it, it was also the stretch marks she had, and the wider hips. On the outside, they weren’t incredibly noticeable changes but she let it get to her. She knew Will wasn’t basing his love for her on her looks, but that didn’t change that she was scared he would no longer want to be with her sexually.

“Wait, wait…” Mackenzies hands push gently on his chest, pulling his lips off of her neck and causing him to draw both of his hands away from her.

Confusion washes over his face, unsure if he had done something wrong, “what is it? What’s wrong?” The confusion turns to concern as he looks down at her, hoping everything was alright.

“It’s just that…” She trails off and looks up past him at the ceiling, not knowing how to explain this to him. It was hard for her to gather a way to say it without sounding like she didn’t have faith in his love for her.

Will waits for her to carry on her sentence and give an explanation but when nothing comes, only more concern grows, “honey whatever it is, you can tell me” he insists.

Her eyes were still looking off behind him at the ceiling, noticing a shadow of one of the flames from one of the candles slowly moving. That only reminds her of the night she had planned for him and sends a sharp pain through her chest for messing things up. 

It’s a few more seconds before Mackenzie’s gaze meets his, but unlike his eyes, hers were filling up with tears as the train of terrible thoughts continued to speed through her mind.

“Oh hey, no, don’t cry hon” Will pulls himself off of her and helps her sit up on the bed. He takes a seat down next to her and grabs hold of her hand, “what’s going on? I want to help you but you need to talk to me.”

Mac doesn’t say anything at first, she just holds his hand tightly and looks down at their white comforter, focusing on one of the red rose petals still littered on the bed. She was unable to find the right words to say. It was hard to admit that she was scared for him to see her body and that she didn’t feel beautiful. She did for a few minutes after he saw her and quickly ran off with her to their bedroom, but that had faded as she let those intrusive thoughts in.

The room is quiet except for the low volume of the music still playing from the living room. It takes her a little longer before she musters up the courage to speak, “when… when you started to undress me, I remembered that this is the first time you’ve seen me naked in… I don’t know how long.” 

She pauses to wipe away a few tears as they fall, still staring at the comforter because she was unable to meet his gaze. Before he can respond she continues, “I didn’t want you to see my body during most of the third trimester but especially toward the end… a few days after we came home from the hospital, I took a shower by myself and I cried the entire time because of how ugly I felt. I put on weight during the pregnancy and for the most part, it’s still there. I have stretch marks all over my stomach now… my hips are wider. It doesn’t help that I’m not getting younger by the day either… I don’t feel beautiful at all. I don’t think you want to see me without this bodysuit, I’m not the same and surely not what you fantasize about.”

Will had to be honest, he was somewhat shocked to hear this come from her. He knew she struggled during her pregnancy to feel beautiful, that the hormones sometimes made it worse because they would only add on top of what she was already feeling. However, he didn’t realize just how much this was affecting her. He thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world, but maybe he wasn’t saying it enough.

“Mackenzie…” he moves closer to her and raises her chin to look up at him, wiping away a tear, “that’s the furthest thing from the truth. I don’t care if you put on a few extra pounds, I mean I certainly don’t have a six pack,” that earns a small laugh from her, “the stretch marks, the wider hips, none of that bothers me. Neither does getting older, I say you only get sexier with age.”

She sniffles and pulls away from his grasp, wiping a few tears, “I don’t know Billy,” Mac then stands up from the bed and walks over toward the window, pulling open the curtain to look out at their view of the city which sheds a little extra light into their room, “I don’t see why you’d choose to stay with me when you could have someone younger and much more beautiful.”

He gets up from the bed, “don’t say that.”

Mac turns from the window and looks over at him, the tears having returned to her eyes, “it’s true, do you know how many women would kill to be with beloved news anchor Will McAvoy?”

“And do you know that all of those women will have to live with their jealousy of you for the rest of their lives? Because I love you, I married  _ you _ .  _ You  _ are who I love no matter how your appearance changes.”

No response comes from her and Will walks over, pressing a hand on her shoulder. “Do you remember on election night, the night we got engaged, when I told you that you’re the most attractive person I’ve seen in real life?”

“Yeah and then you said I looked like I was grown in an environment where it’s dark and damp.”

“I only said that because in the moment I was concerned about the fact that you hadn’t slept at all and we were about to be on the air until well past midnight.”

It takes a couple of seconds, but Mackenzie finally turns to him “I’m sorry” she whispers.

He shakes his head and guides her into his arms, wrapping his own tightly around her. It wasn’t like he didn’t have his own insecurities, he never spoke about them but he knew how she felt. Will was no body builder, he did workout whenever he found time but he wasn’t ever going to have a six pack. He was the older one in the relationship, she shouldn’t worry about that either. He had grey hairs here and there, wrinkles, dark under eye circles, all of it. He had his imperfections. Despite that, she was still with him and even would say that he’d make a sexy silver fox, which would boost his confidence. There were days where it was low and then she’d do something like send him a silly text message and it would put a smile on his face. It would remind him that she loved him no matter what. He needed to remind her of the same thing, that he loved her despite any imperfections. 

Will rubs her back slowly as he holds her. Things go quiet for a few minutes before he suggests laying down in bed, no sexual strings attached, just a place where he could hold her. With her quiet agreement, he guides his wife over to the bed, which was still covered in rose petals from her earlier plans. Once she’s settled, Will slides in next to her and brings his arms back around her.

It’s silent again for quite awhile, so quiet that he begins to think that she’s fallen asleep. That is until he glances down at where her head was resting on his chest and sees her beautiful hazel eyes still open. Mac gives his hand a squeeze, further confirming that she was in fact still awake and staring out the window she had opened the curtain to from their bed.

“I’m sorry I ruined our night” she finally murmurs.

“Nah, you didn’t ruin it. We have all weekend and a lifetime to look forward to, I’ll wait until you feel comfortable being naked in front of me again.”

A sigh falls from her lips and she quietly thanks him, hoping that time would come sooner rather than later. Mac pulls herself out of his embrace to lay down next to him, pulling the comforter up over herself. She was mentally exhausted and hoped that she’d feel better in the morning. Before she closes her eyes, she grabs hold of his hand again and pulls it around her. She still wanted to be held. It was so much easier for her to fall asleep when he was in bed with her and even that much easier when he held her.

Will doesn’t hesitate to follow her lead and slides in behind her, pulling her close. As he does that, he feels the lace fabric press into his skin and suddenly remembers she was still in the bodysuit. It somewhat itched pressed against him, but he wasn’t going to say anything. She wanted to get some rest and that was exactly what he was going to help her do.

⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀●●●⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀  ⠀⠀⠀

Sometime around eight in the morning, Will finds himself awake again. He had no clue when he had fallen asleep the last thing he could remember was cuddling up with Mackenzie again after blowing out all of the candles and turning off the music. That and the fact that the bodysuit she was wearing was starting to itch a whole lot more as time passed while he held her. It takes him another couple of seconds after rubbing his eyes to realize that they were still in the same position and hadn’t moved all night. 

Will glances down at Mac and notices she was still asleep. He presses a kiss to her shoulder then slowly slides out of the bed, being extra quiet even since she was a light sleeper. 

A few minutes later and he emerges from the bathroom, sliding right back into bed with her. However, this time his movements don’t go unnoticed. Her eyes open as she feels him get back into bed, watching as he gets settled.

He looks back over at her once he’s settled and notices she was awake, “sorry, did I wake you?”

Mackenzie shakes her head and opens her arms, “come. Warmth.”

Knowing exactly what she wanted, Will slides over in bed and wraps his arms around her again. He pulls her in close and smiles when she snuggles into his chest. Sometimes she would do this in the middle of the night, she’d tap him until he’d wake up, say the exact words “come. Warmth” and would fall right back asleep in his arms once he did as she asked. It was one of the cutest things she made a habit of doing. It was also a rarity that she’d do this in the morning, but he wasn’t complaining. Will was a cuddler even though he’d never admit that openly to anyone.

It’s a few minutes later when she pulls back from his embrace and looks up at him, having not gone back to sleep like she usually would. 

“I thought you’d be asleep” Will remarks.

Mac doesn’t answer, instead she brings one hand up to his cheek and pulls him down into a kiss. It starts off just slow and gentle but as it progresses, the fires under both of them begin to ignite. As the kiss grows more intense, Mackenzie rolls onto her back as she guides him on top of her. 

His hands begin reaching for the straps of her bodysuit, but for a brief moment his lips break from her and looks down at her, “are you sure you want to do this? I told you I was willing to wait until you felt comfortable with yourself.”

A smile comes to her face, her thumb brushing along his cheek as her hand rests on his neck just below his jaw. “I remembered something that I should’ve last night… I’m the most comfortable being myself around you. I’m sure I want to do this.”

Will nods and carries on guiding her out of the bodysuit, letting her wiggle it off her legs and fall to the ground once it gets that far off. His gaze then fixes upon the sight of her body below him, taking his time to take all of her in. To this day he was still stunned by her beauty and how someone so beautiful could even exist. “You,” he says softly and leans down, trailing a few kisses along her stomach, “are absolutely gorgeous.”

That makes Mackenzie smile again and pull him back up to her level. There isn’t another word spoken, she begins kissing him again and this time it’s filled with twice the passion. His hands begin roaming along her body, taking in every inch and every new part of her. He already knew her like he knew the back of his hand, so he wanted to memorize any new parts while giving attention to the old ones too. Like her scar on her abdomen, which he gently grazes his fingers over as their lips move together as one. 

It was a good thing Will was already almost naked from last night, because all she has to do is hook two fingers on either side of his briefs and swiftly pulls them down as far as her arms can go. He kicks the briefs off and lets them fall to the floor, moving his lips down toward her neck for a short period before trailing further down to his chest.

It didn’t take much longer for their room to be filled with the sounds of her moans mixed with his and the bed creaking beneath them. That also mixed with the sound of the headboard hitting the wall behind the bed was surely enough to wake up their neighbors if they weren’t up already. 

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“We really should probably get out of bed at some point today, I’m going to need to take a shower” Mac says as she stares up at the ceiling, the only light illuminating their room being the sun as its rays shine through the window.

Her head was resting on his chest, just below his heart and she could feel every beat, which brought her an enormous amount of comfort. Her fingers were playing absentmindedly with his own as they held hands and that same arm held her close. 

Will shrugs as he runs his other fingers through her hair, “we have all weekend for that.”

“Mm technically only until tomorrow night, but when you put it that way it is certainly more tempting to stay here all day.”

They hadn’t left the bed except a couple times here and there after the rather intimate morning they had together. They didn’t really get too many days off anymore, not since Charlie was born. Even before that their only days off were the weekends and sometimes those were interrupted by work. Having Charlie meant no more free weekends, but they didn’t mind that. Instead of staying in bed all day they’d make it a day full of going on a walk with her and letting her see some of the big and beautiful world she had only been a part of for a few months. Sometimes their weekends were stressful, she could spend the whole day crying off and on and throwing fits. That would leave them extra exhausted and extra stressed as they tried to take care of her and figure out ways to lessen her bad days. Overall though, they were incredibly happy to be parents. Charlie was a bright light that brought so much happiness to their life.

Mackenzie loved her daughter so much, but she did hope every now and then she and Will could have weekends like this. Little getaways for just the two of them, having time for only them. It was a nice way to keep their spark ignited but then again, that flame could never diminish. They were too in love with each other to ever let that happen.

Suddenly, she feels him shifting and sliding down next to her in the bed so that they could be at the same level. This causes her to move her head to her pillow as he rests his down on his own. She shifts onto her side and watches him do the same, the two being only inches apart.

“Mac?”

“Yes Billy?” She smiles.

“Did you say we have until tomorrow night?”

“My mum and dad are bringing Charlie home around nine” she confirms.

Will nods and scoots closer to her, “so that means we have a little over twenty four hours to do whatever we want.”

“Mm… yeah that was the plan.”

He leans in, their faces only inches apart, “so that means we have all that time to do this…” He presses his lips against hers, “as many times as we want?” They break apart but he was still as close as before, looking into her eyes.

A laugh comes from Mac at that, knowing what he was hinting at. A hand comes to the back of his head, “you’re ridiculous.” She then pulls him into another kiss, using her other hand to grab his side and pull him over on top of her as she falls back on to their soft mattress.

Mackenzie felt a whole lot better than she had the previous night, a lot of it having to do with him reassuring her last night and some of it having to do with their morning together. She still wasn’t completely confident, as the insecurities weren’t just going to magically disappear. However, she had confidence that she could be intimate with him and have next to no worries about whether or not he found her beautiful. Will had made it very clear that he’d tell her again and again until she’d believe it. Lucky for him, she did.

**Author's Note:**

> Something a lil bit different from my most recent works, trying to step at least somewhat outside of my box. 
> 
> As always, thank you for taking the time to read this fic. Feedback is always welcomed and very appreciated. If you liked this please feel free to give a kudos, it always lets me know that you guys are enjoying what I write.


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